


Sisters

by spotty8ee



Category: The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: AU idea, Aftermath of Torture, Eda won't leave Lilith to die, Hurt/Comfort, Likely won't do anything else with it than this!, Love/Hate, Platonic Relationships, Post-Betrayal, Self-Reflection, Sister-Sister Relationship, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-01
Updated: 2021-02-01
Packaged: 2021-03-12 14:02:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29136744
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spotty8ee/pseuds/spotty8ee
Summary: Eda has a lot to think about. After what went down she doesn't know if she can trust Lilith, she doesn't even want to see her... However that doesn't mean she'll leave Lilith to die. After her older sister is captured and sent to Lord Belos personal prison, Eda sneaks in to save her--and makes a rather startling discovery.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 26





	Sisters

**Author's Note:**

> NO BETA! We die like men!
> 
> (Mentions of abuse and torture, but only mentions and nothing graphic)

Lilith was her big sister.

She was more than just older though. She was bigger in Eda’s mind as well. Strong. Silent. Smart. Lilith usually had some height over Eda as they were growing up as well. She did her best to look out for Eda when they were children, tried to steer her in the best direction and was never afraid to help pick Eda back up again.

Lilith had been a perfect sister. A perfect child.

Of course, perfection tended to cast a rather large shadow.

Eda was usually overlooked by their parents and teachers in the face of Lilith's many accomplishments. The only way to get any attention from them had been to misbehave. Which made her parents even more keen to focus on Lilith’s good qualities. 

However Lilith had her eyes on Eda, and on no one else. At the start, as said before, it was to protect Eda and help her… but that gaze would slowly turn to unease. Eda had shown great magical ability that only Lilith seemed to notice. Eda herself hadn’t even realized how unusually gifted she was in the early days. Only Lilith saw the raw potential in her sister’s ability.

She took it as a threat.

In a way.

Of course, perfection tended to cast a rather large shadow. However the shadow is only worse inward. Eda craved what Lilith had. Attention. However that comes at a price. Expectations were high and Lilith had only known the life of a golden child. Eda’s power shook the very foundation of her life.

Eda supposed she could understand why things turned out the way they did.

Fear and envy lead to some very dark places. Like the night market. Where you can buy a curse and use it on your little sister to win a contest. Little, perfect Lilith dirtied her hands and Eda wasn’t sure if she could ever forgive her big sister for that. Nore for the years of solitude in the forest, while Lilith was living in the lap of luxury, trained to be the Emperor's yappy little fetch dog.

Lilith had changed so much over the years. So far gone from what she had been that Eda sometimes hesitated to still call her sister. Oiled straight, inky black hair. Thin, almost twig like appearance. Sharp. Cold. Angry. Serious…

Just another member of the Emperor's coven. 

And Eda never thought any deeper than that. She and Lilith saw each other here and there. They butted heads, had a game of cat and mouse, then they didn’t meet again for months. After everything with Luz, the truth about the curse, and the fallout with Belos, well, Eda didn’t WANT to see Lilith for a bit. She needed time to process how she felt and think about what needed to be done. Yes Lilith had saved her at the expense of her ‘perfect’ life in the spotlight, but how long before it was too little too late?

Lilith had spent almost three decades building that life. But was it a good enough price for almost three decades of living alone with a curse?

Eda wasn’t sure. 

She still loved Lilith. She knew deep down she would never stop loving Lilith. She was her sister, no matter what. However that didn’t give Lilith the right to do whatever she wanted to Eda, or treat her however she pleased. Lying, cursing, chasing…

She loved Lilith, she just didn’t know if she could trust her, or even like her anymore.

They hadn’t spoken in almost three months. Thanks to bozo Belo’s pardon Luz was back in school, but the poor kid was still torn about not being able to go home. Eda could only imagine what her mother was going through. Lilith had sworn not to rest until a new portal was found, but she hadn’t seen hide nor hair of her since.

One thing was for sure, if Lilith did get Luz a portal home, she’d be marginally less disliked… Marginally. 

Whether she’d be welcome in the owl house was still up in the air.

Sadly fate had a funny sense of humor. Luz came rushing home that afternoon with a piece of paper in her hand. She had thrust it under Eda’s nose, panting and out of breath and the sleepy witch blinked before taking a proper look.

It was a news flyer stating that Lilith Clawthorn had been arrested and sentenced to life in the prison below the palace. 

Eda wasted no time changing out of her pajamas and heading over. Lilith had cursed her. Had left her to rot in the woods. Had tried to drag Eda back to the Emperor like a hunting dog with a dead duck.

But Lilith was her sister, no matter what and she still loved her damn it.

The prisons below the palace were nothing to sneeze at. Unlike the Conformatorium the prisons directly under Belos’s control were horrible. At least in the Conformatorium you had some semblance of hope that you’d be released. You were lucky to be left in one piece in Belos’s personal prison. He could do anything he wanted to you there. Whispered rumours heard in the back alleys of the city spoke of things worse than torture. That the poor souls there were used for little more than experimentation. Potions, curses, unstable magic, the works. 

And Lilith had been there for Titan knows how long already.

Eda wasn’t sure what she’d find, but if there was anything of Lilith left, it didn’t deserve to be left there in his clutches. No matter what she had done.

Breaking in hadn’t been so hard. Eda had enough glyphs to sneak in undetected. It was crawling with guards and hard to navigate, but even with no magic it was a cake walk for the one and only Owl Lady. She tried to not look into the cells for too long though… she had already seen some pretty nightmarish results of magic abuse and she had only been here five minutes. 

Finally she came to a door with Lilith’s name on it. A small ice glyph broke the lock and Eda slipped in, praying this wasn’t another stupid trap. The cell was cold and musty. Pitch dark to until Eda used a glyph to make a light spell. There was no window at all, just four stone walls covered in mold, moss and what was, hopefully, old blood. Empty chains on the wall weren’t a comfort. Nore were the surgical equipment littering the floor, even if most of it was rusted with age. So many had likely met a grizzly end in this room, Eda preferred to not think about it.

Instead she focused on the lump under a blanket at the far corner of the room. She inched closer before whisper yelling. “Lilith!”

The bump jumped a bit.

‘Well. She’s alive.’ Eda sighed internally. She came closer. “Lilith I’m here to save you, we gotta go!”

The blanket quivered before the hidden figure shook its head negatively.

“What do you mean no?!” Eda hissed. 

The hidden figure shook its head negatively again, but this time with more energy. It was shivering. Eda didn’t know if Lilith was cold or in pain.

“Lilith for the love of the titan lets go!” Eda snarled, grabbing the blanket and ripping it away.

…

………..

  
  


OH.

Lilith was her big sister. She was more than just older though. When they both were children she was bigger in Eda’s mind as well. 

Which was strange to think now, because Lilith had never seemed so small.

Whatever experiments they had done on Lilith had turned her back into a child. Same poofy red hair that was twice the size of her body. Same slight chub to her middle. The same wide eyes- No wait. One was still grey… The streak was still in her hair too. Apparently she was still cursed and likely had no magic.

Lilith seemed to grow even smaller.

The girl stared up at her with wide, frightened eyes, wet with tears. She sniffled tightly before she squinted up at Eda in the darkness.

‘Right, no glasses.’ Eda realized.

Lilith blinked once, twice, then seemed to look surprised.

“M-Mom?”

“What?!” Eda asked, shocked. Mom?! Did she look like mom?! That was like a nightmare come true!

Eda’s outburst seemed to frighten Lilith though, as she curled in on herself. “Sorry! I’m sorry, you just- you kinda looked like- I’m sorry!” She whimpered tightly in her throat, shoulder shaking as they turned to sobs.

‘Shit!’

“No! No.. its ok…” Eda said quickly, kneeling down. “Its me! Its Eda.”

“E-eda?!” She asked, surprised. “But- but you're a grown up!”

Oh dear.

“Its true. Its me.” Eda said. “I can prove it to! Remember when I was in the baby class at Hexside and I spilled chocolate pudding in your chair during lunch? It looked like you messed yourself and you went back to class and-”

Lilith squeaked, putting her hands on Eda’s mouth, all while she puffed out her cheeks, angry and embarrassed.

Eda almost laughed. It brought back good memories. “You want me to keep telling stories or do you believe me?” She asked, lightly pushing her sister’s hands away.

“I-I believe you.” Lilith said, but her anger quickly faded. “What did they do to you here?! Why are you a grown up?” She shuffled closer, feeling along Eda’s arm, much to the order's confusion. “Are you ok?! Does anything hurt?”

Oh Lilith.

“I’m ok.” Eda smiled. “Nobody hurt me, it's just a long story.”

Lilith seemed to relax. “I’m glad they didn’t hurt you too.”

Eda blinked. “Wait, what do you mean ‘too’?” She lifted Lilith up in her arms, looking her over. “Did they hurt you?”

Lilith sniffled. “Yeah, b-but not too bad.... I dunno why they do though. They keep asking me questions I dunno the answers to, and saying that I’m a prisoner here… What did I do Eda? Why aren’t mom or dad coming to help me? Do they hate me now that I’m in trouble?”

“No! No, they love you so much, Lily!” Eda said, quickly, bouncing her sister a little. They really had. While inattentive and often busy, their parents had been loving. Even at Eda’s worst behaviour as a child they had never made her feel like their love was conditional. She wasn’t sure why Lilith thought that. “Where did they hurt you though? Is it bad?”

“N-no… not bad…” Lilith said. “Just wherever they could I guess.” As an example she held out her arm for Eda to see under the limited light. It was black and blue with angry, puffed up cuts, along with what seemed to be a few burn marks.

“Oh Lily.” Eda said at the sight.

“What did I do though Eda?” Lilith asked fearfully, looking up at her sister, unable to fully see her without her glasses. “Why does Lord Belos want to hurt me?”

“Lets talk once we’re out of here ok?” Eda said, shifting Lilith up higher in her arms. “Hold onto me and don’t make a sound out in the hall.”

“But then you’ll be in trouble too.” Lilith said worriedly, pulling on Eda’s dress in alarm.

“Won’t be the first time, or the last.” Eda smiled down at her. “Hold on now and not a sound.”

Lily clung to her like a koala as they snuck back to the exit, face buried in Eda’s hair. She was shaking the entire way and Eda could only guess she was scared they were going to be caught. If those injuries were what she got when she behaved, Eda could only wonder how delinquency would be punished. 

She was determined that Lily would never find out. 

As they went they had to sneak back past the guards. It was slower now with Lily’s extra weight to carry. Not to mention all the horrible sights to see as they went. Guards would just drag prisoners down the halls, even if they couldn’t walk. Some missing limbs, some with extra ones. A few were bleeding and a few were leaking green slime.

At one point a painful, wretched scream rang out through the prison as someone was likely being mutilated somehow. Lily jumped and whined in her throat tightly at the noise before Eda hushed her, trying to supply comport by patting her back. It almost got them caught when a guard was alerted by the noise, but he thankfully just shrugged it off as him hearing things.

Finally they made it out into the moonlight. Eda found Owlbert and clambered onto her staff, flying off into the night. She did it! She saved Lily and now everything was fine!

….

…

No wait. Everything wasn’t fine.

Eda glanced down at Lily, who was still holding onto her tightly, though she was pulling her face out of Eda’s neck. Titan knew if this spell or potion would wear off. Maybe Lily would have to grow up again. Maybe she would be a child forever now. That's the problem with magic. When you fiddle with it, it can become unpredictable. 

Eda eyed the streak in Lily’s hair. No magic, no powers, she was only a little girl now. One with no memory of the last forty or so years. Eda couldn’t just leave her on her own. Belos would be looking for her and besides, she needed someone to take care of her.

Eda sighed softly. “Lets go home Lily.”

Lily glanced up at her with wide eyes, red curls bouncing in the wind.

Eda couldn’t help a nostalgic smile. 

“Lets go home.”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this Au idea I had rolling around my brain for a bit. I likely will not make anymore of it, but feel free to use this idea if you like! (Also link back to me so I can take a look!)
> 
> Thanks guys!


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